Parts Nebula Update – Locations

Now that the parts nebula has been launched, I’ve been able to get some feedback and implement some features I’ve been wanting. We are using this system as a backend for MakerBot inventory, don’t be surprised if its geared a bit towards running a large scale open source hardware company.

Anyway, the first feature is one that we will all appreciate here at the warehouse: part locations. If you add parts to your inventory, you can also specify the location of those parts. I also tweaked the UI a bit and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. Its a bit tidier, a bit tighter, and hopefully easier to use.

Our current setup is simple. We have about 10 racks of shelves, and each rack has about 10 shelves on it. Each shelf can fix exactly 4 boxes, and each box holds only one item. Some items are stored in more than one box, but they are all clustered together. We have labeled the racks #1-#10 and each shelf is labeled A-J. Each shelf has a unique location, such as RACK 5 / SHELF F. If you wanted to get tricky, you could do RACK 5 / SHELF F / BOX 2. Since there are only 4 boxes max per shelf, we are going to stick to the shelf level. Aside from the work of printing and labeling 400 boxes, it should be pretty simple to add the location for all the parts to Thingiverse. Then the magic begins.

You see, the parts in your inventory are linked with the parts that you can add to a thing. This means that when you generate a part list for a thing, the system can automatically look up the parts in your inventory and add the location of the things for you! No more wandering the shelves like a ghost looking for that one box. Instead you can simply look over the parts list printout and know exactly where the parts are. Not only that, but if you are looking for a certain part, you can simply look it up in your inventory and will tell you exactly where it is.

Last but not least, I added the location field to the CSV export so you have that critical data wherever you want it. I also added the ability to sort by name, quantity, and location. Those should all be helpful when determining what you’re low on, what you have a bunch of, as well as getting a list of what places hold what parts.

Up next: grouped part lists with subassemblies. Should be exciting.